ECBACC

The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Inc. (ECBACC, Inc.) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit community-based organization focused on education, literacy and the arts.

Originally slated to be called the Pan-African Comic Convention (PAC-Con) or First World Komix Con (1st World Con), and after over a decade of deliberations, networking and consortium-building (from 1990–2001), the first convention was held in Philadelphia in May 2002, and is the region’s first “Black Comic Book Convention,” bringing together hundreds of comic book, sci-fi and fantasy creators, their colleagues and their fans since 2002.

ECBACC, Inc. was founded by Mr. Yumy Odom, a multidisciplinary educator, scientist and researcher for over 30 years.

ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award

The ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award was inaugurated at the 3rd Annual ECBACC (2004) to honor those men and women, many unsung, who have made innovative, dynamic and lasting contributions to the comic book & sci-fi industry and who have paved the way for others. The list of these trailblazers follows: political cartoonist Mr. Samuel Joyner of Philadelphia Tribune fame who received the very first ECBACC Pioneer Award in 2004; Mr. Bertram Fitzgerald, Creator of “Golden Legacy Comics,” who received the honor in 2005; Mr. Tony Tallarico, of “Lobo” fame, who received the honor in 2006, as did Mr. Turtel Onli, the “Father of the Black Age” concept; Mr. Larry Fuller, “One of the Kings of Underground Comix,” who received the honor in 2007; and Ms. Nichelle Nichols of “Star Trek / Lt. Nyota Uhura” fame who honored ECBACC with her presence in 2008. There were no ECBACC PLA Award honorees in 2009 or 2010. Three (3) Posthumous ECBACC PLA Awards will be bestowed upon brothers Mr. Orrin Evans & Mr. George Evans, the creators of the first independent Black comic book in the U.S.A: All-Negro Comics (1947) and Mr. Dwayne McDuffie, co-founder of Milestone Media (1993), a subsidiary of DC Comics, which created a numerous multi-cultural characters, among them: Hardware

Hardware (comics)

Hardware is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. An original character from DC's Milestone Comics imprint, he first appeared in Hardware #1 , and was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan...

, Icon

Icon (comics)

Icon is a fictional superhero, a comic book character published by DC Comics. An original character from DC's Milestone Comics imprint, he first appeared in Icon #1 , and was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan...

, Static, Blood Syndicate

Blood Syndicate

The Blood Syndicate is a fictional multicultural gang of superhumans created by Milestone Comics and published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in Blood Syndicate #1 , and was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr...

 and Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Cabinet (comics)

The Shadow Cabinet is a team of fictional superheroes created by Milestone Comics and published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Shadow Cabinet #0 , and were created by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III and John Paul Leon...

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S.T.A.R.S.

The ECBACC STARS Workshop (an acronym for Storytelling That Advances Reading Skills) is an ECBACC initiative designed to use comic book art and imagery as a vehicle to foster creativity and promote literacy, with a secondary focus on introducing participants to the various career options that exist within the comic book industry. ECBACC STARS participants learn what it is like to be comic book creators via the “Create Your Own Hero” exercises while they put their imaginations to work as they pen their own stories for the characters they create.

The Black Age of Comics

The “Black Age of Comics,” as a movement (ca. 1981–Present) and an era (ca. 1990–1997), can be defined as the particular periods where there was a concerted and purposeful effort by men and women of African descent to create a plethora and range of Black [Pan-African / Africentric / Afrocentric / African-centered] superhero characters and images in the U.S. comic book industry.

The rudiments of the “Black Age of Comics” were established with the earliest documented “Black Age” comic book character introduced in 1981 by graphic artist Mr. Turtel Onli of Chicago, Illinois in the form of NOG: Protector of the Pyramids. “NOG” is an acronym for “Nubian of Greatness.”

The “Black Age of Comics” as an era has ended, but the “Black Age of Comics” as a movement continues...